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Re-reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. The last two issues gave us encounters with the Hulk and the Avengers, so let’s keep the crossover train rolling in issue #27, with an appearance by a certain sorcerer supreme.

The issue begins with a real attention-getter. Reed is experimenting with his image projector, creating a hologram of Sue in a swimsuit (phroar!). After more horsing around with the device, Reed reveals to Ben and Johnny that he’s going to go shopping for an engagement ring for Sue (Hey-o!).

Elsewhere, way down in Atlantis, we’re reunited with Namor the Submariner, who is still obsessing over Sue. He gathers together some Atlantean warriors and asks them to invade the surface world and abduct Sue. The warriors renege, and leave Namor alone, again. Not long after, Namor shows up at the Baxter Building in disguise, using his strength and a convenient gas gun to take out Reed, Ben and Johnny. Alone with Sue, Namor pledges his love, saying he’d give up his empire and his birthright for her. When she relents, Namor shows his “love” by gassing her into unconsciousness and abducting her.

Reed comes back from ring shopping to learn that Sue is gone. He flips out, and starts using all his high-tech equipment to search for Namor. He swears that this time, he’s going after Namor alone. Ben and Johnny hold a powwow, and agree that they should find Namor first, before Reed does anything rash. Johnny has an idea, and uses his flame for some skywriting, putting a message for Dr. Strange across the sky.

As Reed leaves the Baxter Building aboard his personal helicopter (!?!), Dr. Strange, master of the mystic arts, arrives in his ghostlike astral projection form. While insisting that his powers may only be used against evil, Strange reluctantly agrees to help. Strange’s magic amulet leads him to Atlantis, as he thinks, “This is a far cry from battling the sinister, mysterious menaces of the world of black magic.”

Namor, still not quite getting how the whole “suitor” thing works, has Sue trapped inside a cage, asking for 24 hours to convince her to love him. Reed arrives via his personal submarine (what happened to the helicopter?), able to breathe thanks to a pill he’s invented, and he attacks Namor. Strange sees this, and decides to return to Ben and Johnny to tell them. Reed puts up a good fight, until the Atlantean warriors return, having had yet another change of heart, and they take Reed hostage.

At the Baxter Building, Dr. Strange helps out by teleporting Ben and Johnny directly to Atlantis. The rest of the issue is one big fight, as Ben and Johnny take on the Atlanteans while Reed and Namor continue to duke it out. Just as it looks like Namor has the upper hand, about to kill everyone with a huge undersea cannon, Sue deflects the blast with a force field, ending the fight. She tells Namor that Reed is the only man for her.

Dr. Strange is watching all this from a crystal ball. Somehow knowing that no woman has ever before rejected Namor, and that Namor’s rage will be out of control, Strange immediately teleports the FF back into Reed’s sub (Why didn’t he do this to begin with?). The issue ends ambiguously, as Reed is uncertain whether Sue meant what she said, or if she was merely bluffing.

Unstable molecule: Reed goes all out in fighting Namor, using his powers in a bunch of wild ways including stretching into the shape of a giant bow, firing Namor like an arrow at his own soldiers!

Fade out: Sue is stuck in the unfortunate position of being the “prize” two men are fighting over. She is the one who puts an end to the chaos, though.

Clobberin’ Time: There an interesting bit where the Atlanteans fire electronic rays at Ben, only to have his body absorb the energy and then use it against them. You can bet I’ll be looking to see if he ever uses this ability again.

Flame on: Johnny does a lot during the big fight, blinding the Atanteans, destroying a flying probe, and fusing the walls into a barrier to keep a passage from flooding. It’s also his passionate speech about preventing Reed from killing Namor that encourages Dr. Strange to join the cause.

Trivia Time: Dr. Strange was appearing the appropriately-titled Strange Tales at the time, making this a convenient bit of cross-promotion. Strange lets loose with three of his classic incantations this issue, “by the power of Vishanti,” “the visionary vapors of the dread Dormammu,” and, as always, “the hosts of Hoggoth.”

Fantastic of frightful: Dr. Stange’s appearance is kind of a throwaway, but I like that Reed is pushed so far that he’s actually considering killing Namor. I also like how hard and brutal the fight between them is. It’s not just good guys versus bad guys, it’s personal. It’s broad and over-the-top, yet somehow it makes Reed feel more flawed, more human.

Next week: It just wouldn’t be a crossover without any mutants!

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. When we last left our heroes, the Hulk was wrecking New York City, enraged that Captain America had taken his place on the
Avengers. The Thing fought back, and got the crud beaten out of him by the
Hulk. Meanwhile, Reed has been stricken by a strange ailment and is bedridden.
Now, in issue #26, the Avengers are about to join in on the fun.(Note: I’ll be doing a bunch of these FF posts throughout February to make up for weeks I’ve missed. If all goes according to plan, that’ll put the blog on track to reach Galactus at the one-year mark!)

The issue begins with the Thing fulfilling his promise at the end of the last one, to keep on fighting no matter what, as we get two more pages of him and the Hulk pounding on each other. In the hospital Reed wants to join the fight, but he must be sedated because of his weakened condition. Sue gives the doctors the serum Reed was working on when he got sick, in the hopes they can be turned into an antidote. Johnny is also hospitalized after the Hulk smashed him last issue. Although still hurting and covered in special asbestos bandages, Johnny rejoins the fight and we get more pages of him and Ben giving the Hulk everything they’ve got, and the Hulk giving back. The army moves and fires on the Hulk, which does nothing of course.

The Hulk takes off, hiding out in the subway tunnels, where he renews his commitment to find and destroy the Avengers. He makes his way to Tony Stark’s New York mansion, and the Avengers are inside, waiting for him. The lineup: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant Man, and squeaky-clean teen sidekick Rick Jones. Squeaky-clean teen sidekick Rick Jones wants to reason with the Hulk, but the Hulk immediately attacks him (sweet), and the Avengers all fight back at once.

At the hospital, the antidote works, and Reed is cured. He rejoins the others and the FF is a team again. The find the Hulk on a rooftop with squeaky-clean teen sidekick Rick Jones. The Wasp is inside Hulk’s ear, driving him crazy with the buzzing sound of her wings. Cap jumps in, and moves so fast that the Hulk can’t get a grip on him. The rest of the FF and the Avengers show up, but keep getting in each other’s way. The Hulk leaps away with squeaky-clean teen sidekick Rick Jones, barely escaping a toss from Thor’s hammer, which the Hulk describes as “the one thing I fear.” The FF and the Avengers both insist on going after the Hulk on their own, until Thor and the Thing become the voices of reason, suggesting everybody work together.

Everybody finds the Hulk and squeaky-clean teen sidekick Rick Jones at a construction site, and it’s time for seven pages of non-stop fighting! Iron Man uses his “magnetized repellant,” and has to be saved by Thor. Johnny tries trapping the Hulk in a ring of fire, and he has to be saved by Reed. Cap sends a wrecking ball after the Hulk, and saves himself with all of his cool moves. There’s a funny bit where Giant Man alternates between shrinking and growing so fast that the Hulk doesn’t know what’s going on. He gets rescued by the Wasp. Finally, squeaky-clean teen sidekick Rick Jones gets close enough to the Hulk to toss a gamma radiation-treated pill into the Hulk’s mouth, which the Hulk swallows. Giant Man, who, remember was until recently Ant-Man, orders an army of ants to crawl all over the Hulk. The Hulk jumps into the nearby river to get the ants off, after which he transforms back into a human and floats silently away.

Squeaky-clean teen sidekick Rick Jones feels betrayed, as he thought the Hulk was his friend. Cap says it’s hard to lose a partner, referencing his lost pal Bucky, because Cap always references his lost pal Bucky. The FF and the Avengers agree to be allies from here on out, and will help each other out if need be.

Unstable molecule: So Reed’s mysterious illness really was caused by his messing with strange chemicals in his lab? And some random doctor comes up with the cure? Not much of a reveal.

Fade out: Aside from providing the doctor with Reed’s serum, Sue doesn’t do much in this issue. Giant Man gets trapped in one of Sue’s force fields when she tries to use it on the Hulk.

Clobberin’ time: Ben continues to be the go-to guy when it comes to Hulk bashing, even when Thor and Iron Man are standing by.

Flame on: I don’t know why Johnny thinks creating a circle of fire around the Hulk will have any effect. He looks pretty badass done up in his fireproof bandages, though.

Trivia time: This issue leads into Avengers #5, where the Hulk reemerges from hiding, complicating matters as the Avengers try to fight him as well as a bunch of super-evil lava men.

Fantastic or frightful: Another “all they do is fight” issue. It’s interesting that the Hulk is flat-out the villain this time, not manipulated by some real villain or somesuch. With so many characters running around, there’s little room for character development, but it’s nonetheless exciting to see so many classic Marvel characters interacting in one story.

Next week: Still more crossovers!

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Re-reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Both the cover and the front page proclaim issue #25 to be “The battle of century.” (Note: I’ll be doing a bunch of these FF posts throughout February to make up for weeks I’ve missed. If all goes according to plan, that’ll put the blog on track to reach Galactus at the one-year mark!)

The issue begins right in the middle of high drama, as Reed wants Ben to try another cure, to turn Ben back into a human. Ben refuses, because he thinks becoming human means Alicia won’t love him. Reed argues that it’s not Ben’s appearance Alicia loves, but Ben himself. On cue, Alicia appears with a newspaper, hoping one of them will read it to her (this comes off a lot more sad than I think Stan and Jack intended). The article is about the Avengers, recently returned to the U.S. after battling both the Hulk and the Submariner out at sea. It also announced Captain America as the newest Avenger.

Meanwhile, in New Mexico, a couple of truckers have a run-in with the Hulk. He hides out in the back of their truck, calming down and turning back into Bruce Banner. The truck stops at a roadblock, where police are in the midst of a Hulk manhunt. Banner makes a run for it. The cops don’t pursue because he’s obviously not the Hulk. Bruce runs out into the wilderness where, conveniently, he has a secret underground lab set up. Along the way, though, he transforms back into the Hulk. Hulk finds the lab and, in his rage, trashes it. He also finds the same newspaper Alicia had (they sell the New York Times in New Mexico?) and he’s furious about being “replaced” in the Avengers by Captain America. He heads off to New York to confront the Avengers. Along the way, we get a quick of Avengers searching for the Hulk. The lineup: Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Wasp, Giant Man, and squeaky-clean teen sidekick Rick Jones.

At the Baxter Building, Reed collapses, falling unconscious. It’s bad timing, because that when the Hulk shows up and starts trashing NYC. Johnny tries to fight the Hulk, but the Hulk is pretty much fireproof and he puts out Johnny’s flame. Ben and Sue don’t want to leave Reed’s side, but he wakes just long enough to insist that they stop the Hulk, for the good of the city. Sue uses her force fields to protect Johnny from the Hulk’s fists, and then Ben jumps into the fray. We’re on page 11 at this point, and the next 10 pages, almost the rest of the comic, are nothing but the Hulk and the Thing going at it.

After exchanging blows, a bus gets between them, which they use as a weapon against each other, destroying it in the process. Hulk throws Ben up to the top of a building, and then topples that building, sending Ben back down to earth. The fight moves underground, where the Hulk gets electrocuted thanks to some exposed wires. Once they’re above ground again, Hulk and Thing run afoul of those jokesters from the Yancy Street gang, who send a driverless truck at them. It scoops them up, takes them down the street, and drops them in the Hudson River. Ben climbs aboard a convenient abandoned boat and tries to escape, but the Hulk catches up and smashes it. Ben makes it to the Washington Bridge, where he manages to tie the Hulk up with one of those huge bridge cables. Thing fears that he’s not strong enough to contain the Hulk, and sure enough, the Hulk breaks free. The Hulk beats down the Thing and demands to see the Avengers, or he’ll tear the city apart.

Back at HQ, a doctor has no idea what’s wrong with Reed, except that Reed spends all his time in his lab, exposed to potentially dangerous “strange microbes and untested formulae.” On the bridge, the Thing comes to, gets back to his feet, and proclaims that, despite his weakened, battered condition, he’ll stop the Hulk, no matter what it takes. “That’s the only way he’ll stop me now,” Ben says, “by killin’ me!”

To be continued!!!

Unstable molecule: Reed still wants Ben to be human, despite Ben’s change of heart about his “condition.” This shows that Reed carries around guilt about what became of Ben, something that will be explored in great depth by other writers and artists years later. His illness is an intriguing mystery, and opens the door for Ben to take center stage.

Fade out: Sue rescues Johnny from the Hulk, and then immediately returns to Reed’s bedside.

Clobberin’ Time: It’s a showcase for Ben, revealing that he and the Hulk are not equals in strength. Despite being outclassed by ol’ Greenskin, Ben perseveres, and keeps fighting. Real big-time hero stuff.

Flame on: Johnny is the first to try fighting the Hulk, but doesn’t last long before the Hulk knocks him out.

Trivia time: The Hulk last guest-starred in issue #12. The continuity between this issue and The Avengers is pretty air-tight. The Hulk was a member of the team for the first two issues, quitting in Avengers #2. The others didn’t just let him go, however, and pursued him in Avengers #3, where he fought with and then had a temporary alliance with Namor. His disappearance at the end of that issue makes way for Captain America’s return in Avengers #4 and easily leads into the start of this FF issue.

The Hulk’s alter ego is referred to as “Bob Banner” throughout this issue, instead of “Bruce Banner.” You know, back when the 1970s Incredible Hulk TV show renamed him “Robert Banner,” Marvel allegedly responded by saying the character’s name is “Robert Bruce Banner,” but he goes by his middle name most of the time. The use of the name “Bob” has me wondering if that was a thing long before the TV show, or if Stan and company simply screwed up.

Fantastic or frightful: Jack Kirby is often praised for his ability to draw huge action, and this issue is a perfect example. This Thing/Hulk brawl is the standard-setter for all future Thing/Hulk brawls.

Next time: Avengers assemble!

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Re-reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Issue #24 provides some serious 1960s psychedelic weirdness. (Note: I’ll be doing a bunch of these FF posts throughout February to make up for weeks I’ve missed. If all goes according to plan, that’ll put the blog on track to reach Galactus at the one-year mark!)

The “action” begins as the FF shows off their powers in front of a bunch of photographers from Life Magazine. (Too bad it wasn’t Now Magazine, because then Peter Parker could have been taking the pics.) Nobody wants photos of Reed, Johnny or Ben, focusing all their attention on Sue – you know, because she’s a hottie. The reporters learn of a disturbance in Times Square, so they take off. The FF follow in the Fantasticar, and then it’s on.

The next few pages are an onslaught of crazy: The Fantasticar is trapped inside a giant milk bottle, the streets are reshaped into some sort of maze, a giant spinning top threatens all the pedestrians, and an army of giant robots appear. They vanish, as an alien appears. It’s the one behind all this, using its powers to do stuff like transform lampposts into flowers and make soda fountains appear out of midair. The photographers try to take its picture, and it reacts by telekinetically throwing them through the air. It then causes meteors to rain down on New York, which the FF promptly destroy before they can do serious harm.

Reed deduces that alien is an infant, based on its behavior. He tells the public that the best thing to do is stay out of the creature’s way and not antagonize it. Elsewhere, a gangster named Big Joe learns of this and hatches a plan. When the creature reappears, Big Joe and his goons use candy and ice cream to tempt it to join them.

Back at the Baxter Building, Reed theorizes about all the awful things the alien could do if it continues to run around unchecked with its seemingly godlike powers. He coins the creature “Infant Terrible.” (“It means a child who does dreadful things,” Reed says.) Reed wants to work on a solution in his lab, but Johnny and Ben want to hit the streets and look for the alien, so the team splits up.

Big Joe has trained the Infant Terrible to steal money for him, transporting an armored bank van to his location outside the city. Only it doesn’t stop there, transforming the bags of money into pigs, birds and dinosaur eggs, for its own amusement. Ben, Johnny and Sue show up, and the gangsters don’t stand a chance. The alien panics and creates a giant rock monster to fight our heroes.

Back at HQ, Reed reveals that his device he’s been building is a transmitter. He sends a message into outer space, gets a response, and WOW the alien ships are a total rip from War of the Worlds. I expected better of Kirby.

The alien traps the other three heroes in a fireproof, unbreakable bubble. It then returns to New York and unleashes hell, trashing a helicopter and causing all kinds of damage. Alicia shows up among the crowd. She’s nearly trampled in everyone’s panic and almost run over by a car, but Ben, Sue, and Johnny escape and make it back to the city just in time to save her.

The alien ship arrives, and Reed gets it attention. The Infant Terrible looks up at the sun, and is about to use its powers to crash the Earth into it, when someone else intervenes. Yes, it’s the aliens parents, reuniting with their kid and keeping its powers in check. The aliens leave, as Reed gives a big speech about how the aliens are so advanced that they must be peaceful, because ignorance and evil go hand in hand. (Hey, if it’s a giant baby with cosmic powers, what do you suppose the cosmic diapers are like?)

Unstable molecule: Once again, Reed saves the day with his brains and not his powers.

Fade out: Sue uses her invisibility to show off for reporters, and then uses her force fields to stop the gangsters from escaping.

Clobberin’ time: Ben gets a workout in this issue, fighting all the robots, and then several pages of fighting the rock monster.

Flame on: Johnny traps the gangsters in rings of fire, and then uses his flame to burn a bunch of rubber tires together as a trap for another gangster. One can only imagine the stink that caused.

Trivia Time: The Infant Terrible fell into obscurity after this, appearing very rarely in later comics. Its race is the Elanians.

The “all-powerful alien is really a child” thing is popular sci-fi trope, seen in Star Trek’s The Squire of Gothos, Joe Dante’s Explorers and many others.

Fantastic or frightful: Basically an excuse to get the FF into and out of one crazy scrape after another, this issue is a riot as long as you don’t take it too seriously.

 Next time: Rematch of the century!

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Re-reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. What is Dr. Doom’s master plan? Let’s find out. (Note: I’ll be doing a bunch of these FF posts throughout February to make up for weeks I’ve missed. If all goes according to plan, that’ll put the blog on track to reach Galactus at the one-year mark!)

Everyone say it with me: This issue’s story begins with a mishap in Reed’s lab. A baby dinosaur is on the loose! Turns out Reed stepped out for a while, leaving Johnny and Ben in charge. They turned their backs on Dr. Doom’s time machine for a second, and the dinosaur came bumbling out. After catching it and returning it to its own time, Reed takes a second to exposit that they’ve relocated the time machine to the Baxter Building after that Rama-Tut business in issue #19. He then reads Ben and Johnny the riot act, calling them “childish” and “my so-called partners.” He then lays it real thick, saying, “In case it’s slipped your alleged minds, the work we do here means something,” and, “Stop flapping your lips and get back to work!” This encounter has Ben, Johnny and Sue saying it’s time the team had a new leader.

Elsewhere, in a courthouse, a criminal is being sentenced to jail, but a mysterious stranger intercepts, putting the guy in a limo and driving him to a secret location, where two other crooks are waiting. The spectator is revealed to be a robot in disguise, and a voice over the intercom provides exposition. Our three baddies are tough guy brawler Bull Brogin, studly con artist “Handsome Harry” Phillips, and circus performer Yogi Dakor, known as “The Fireproof Man.” A door slides open to reveal that the ringleader is none other than Dr. Doom. This would be a shocker if it wasn’t on the cover.

At the Baxter Building, Sue, Ben and Johnny hold an impromptu election for a new leader. They of course each vote for themselves, solving nothing. Ben and Johnny start fighting, and we get a tiresome three pages of them duking out, all while trashing everything in the room. Reed steps in and breaks up the fight. Still Mr. Attitude, he says, “If you think I like being the leader of this group of temperamental prima donnas, you’re crazy! But someone’s got to do it, and I’m the only one who can stand you!”

Back in Doom’s lab, he exposes his three new cohorts to his “XZ-12 Device,” which enhances their powers. Handsome Harry now has super-hearing, Yogi is truly fireproof, and Brogin has superhuman strength levels. Each is now equipped to take out a member of the Fantastic Four, while Doom himself says he will defeat Reed personally.

Johnny gets word that a visiting Maharajah is in town and wants to give him a new, high-tech car as a gift. The Maharajah is Yogi in disguise, and they take off in the car. Yogi traps Johnny inside an airtight compartment inside the car. Johnny tries to burn his way out, but his flame eventually extinguishes and he passes out.

Elsewhere, the Thing heads to Yancy Street, looking for trouble, where Brogin is waiting for him. They fight, with much collateral damage, until Brogin zaps the Thing with a ray that turns him back into a human. Back at the Baxter Building, Handsome Harry shows up looking for Sue claiming to be an admirer of hers. He gives her flowers that are drugged. Sensing something is wrong, Sue turns invisible and tries to escape. Thanks to his super-hearing, Handsome Harry knows exactly where she is, and he captures her. In the city, we see what looks like the Thing firing the “4” signal into the sky. Reed responds, only to have Ben and Dr. Doom trap him inside a glass box. It’s not really Ben, but a robot Ben lookalike.

Now with all four heroes trapped in his hideout, Doom gives his three partners envelopes, which they believe are filled with cash. Instead, they’re booby-trapped (hehe, “booby”), and they transport all three to another dimension. (Harsh, Doom, harsh.) Using her new force field powers, Sue helps free the others. Doom fights back with some automated defenses he’s set up in his base. He has a battering ram for Ben and a freezing device to prevent Reed from stretching. Johnny frees Reed and the four work together and start to get the upper hand on Doom. Doom escapes into an adjacent chamber.

Here’s where things get just a little kooky. Doom has picked this particular building as his hideout, he explains, because a solar wave is about to hit it, transporting the entire building into outer space. (“I should have guessed!” Reed says. How, exactly does one guess something like this?) Sue extends her force fields to the other side of the wall, trapping Doom along with them. Desperate to escape, Doom falls through the floor and is sucked away into the vastness of space. With him gone, the FF hurries through Doom’s escape route and finds their way to safety. Johnny and Ben say they’re glad Reed is the FF’s leader, but Ben is still not so sure.

Unstable molecule: This issue reveals that Reed’s stretching is weakened by extreme cold. His surly attitude toward the other three is never really resolved, but that’s kind of realistic isn’t it? The whole “family that bickers but still cares about each other” thing is one of the more endearing things about these characters, and it’s in full force in this issue.

Fade Out: Sue continues to prove how versatile her invisible force fields can be, using them in a telekinetic-like way several times this issue.

Clobberin’ Time: Ben goes to Yancy Street looking for a fight because the Yancy Street Gang sent him a letter asking where he buys his “ugly pills.” If this sets Ben off, just imagine how irate he’d be if they had internet comment threads back in the day.

Flame On: Johnny’s powers come in handy when Reed gets frozen. He enjoys his celebrity status when meeting with press and his adoring fans during the car incident.

Trivia Time: Doom’s three cohorts would reappear on occasion, calling themselves the Terrible Trio, but never really received superstar status. Too bad, because they’re fun characters. It seems they’re a trial run for the Frightful Four, which we’ll get to in a few issues.

Fantastic or Frightful? Fun stuff! It’s often been argued that Doom is secretly a coward beneath all his bluster, and his actions in this issue prove it. He’s always running off and hiding when things get to be too much for him. The “solar wave” business comes out of nowhere, but it gives Doom a great send-off.

Next time: Evil space baby!

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Re-reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Issue #22 introduces big changes for one of our heroes. (Note: I’ll be doing a bunch of these FF posts throughout February to make up for weeks I’ve missed. If all goes according to plan, that’ll put the blog on track to reach Galactus at the one-year mark!)

The story in #22 begins in Reed’s lab (I’ve been saying that a lot lately, haven’t I?) where Reed says he suspects Sue’s powers of invisibility are greater than anyone suspected. After a little experimenting, Sue discovers she can create invisible force fields, strong enough to withstand Ben’s punches and Johnny’s flame. A little more experimenting, and Sue finds she can turn other objects besides herself invisible as well, including her teammates.

While this is going on, the FF are also being bombarded by local cops, neighbors, and more, all based on the ordinary inconveniences of trying to live with a superhero headquarters in the neighborhood. Zoning regulations have a problem with the team’s personal ICBM transport missile, while others complain about the noise, random damage, and more coming from the Baxter Building. Seeing the need for a more secluded place to conduct his experiments, Reed reads (heh) about an island for sale off the coast of New Jersey (!). The team hops aboard the amphibious U-Car and checks it out.

There’s a lot of strangeness on the island, such as an “impenetrable” barrier reef, and an unknown force pulling the U-Car into the ocean. A mysterious stranger is behind it all, revealed to be the Mole Man, last seen way back in the first issue. He says he’s there on the island to start his new kingdom, Subterranea. With the help of his alien-like subterranean subjects, the Mole Man traps the FF on top of some sort of futuristic netting surrounded by a radioactive field.

Villain monologue time! The Mole Man explains that he survived the events of issue #1 by escaping deeper into his underground tunnels. He and his subjects then started building giant hydraulic platforms under the surface of the Earth’s largest cities. He plans to suck all the cities down to the center of the Earth.

As one of the Mole Man’s subjects approaches with a detonator, Sue acts quickly, surrounding it with an invisible force field. She uses another force field to escape from the netting. Check it out: This isn’t just a historic issue for Sue, but it’s one for the Thing to — the very first time he ever says “It’s clobberin’ time!” (He also adds, “Yay bo!” which didn’t catch on as much.)

The escape is short-lived, as all four heroes fall into trap doors. While Reed, Ben, and Johnny face the usual death traps, Sue finds herself in what appears to be an ordinary living room. It’s all illusion, though. Thanks to her new powers, Sue is able to make the illusion mechanism visible the escape. Ben, Reed and Johnny escape from their traps as well, and there’s several pages of running and fighting, as Ben dukes it out with more subterraneans and the others escape more traps. Reed insists everyone retreat back to U-Car, and Sue can’t figure out why. As the team flees, the Mole Man makes his way back to the detonator and presses it, only to discover that Reed reprogrammed it so that the island is the one sucked to the center of the Earth, and not the world’s cities.

Unstable molecule: Reed uncovers Sue’s new powers. He says it was actually the radiation from his nuclear testing device that did it. He also pulled the switcheroo on the Mole Man at the end.

Fade Out: Sue gets her new powers, and immediately finds uses to use them. I was hoping she’d use them to be the one who stops the Mole Man, but I guess saving her team will have to.

Clobbering Time: In his death trap, the Thing finds himself sinking in a soft, cotton-like substance, which threatens to suffocate him. Instead of fighting his way out, he thinks his way, by following the goop to its source.

Flame On: Johnny’s trap is an ice-based one, which prevents him from using his flame. He too thinks his way out, using a piece of ice to disrupt the machinery.

Trivia Time: In later years, most notably on John Byrne’s run on the title, it’s often speculated that Sue’s force fields make her the most powerful member of the team. But this issue, the one in which her powers are introduced, Reed says much the same thing.

The Mole Man’s subterranean servants will become part of pretty much every Mole Man story from here on out. Later, we’ll learn they’re called Moloids.

Fantastic or Frightful? Stan Lee often gets credit for bringing “real world problems” into superhero tales, and we get a huge dose of that in this issue, with about half the issue taking place with our characters hanging out headquarters dealing with everyday stuff, so that the Mole Man’s threatened apocalypse seems almost tacked-on. A quirky issue, but a fun one.

Next week: The Master Plan Committee.

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.